There were some faces missing and there were some faces back. One of those missing in action was Chrispy who was off enjoying himself in a gypsy caravan to celebrate a milestone event. Happy 50th mate, from all at Ivanhoe. According to all reports, the suspension on those vans is pretty sturdy.
Among those we haven’t seen for a while were the Beast back from his OS jaunt (see Where’s Wally pic below), RodG back from his golfers elbow recuperation, Zimmer and Stefan back from who knows where and Pepsi back from the sinny city. One of these days the aces will line up and we will get a full field.
And there is no reason not to come, the weather was clement, the course is in great nick with a bit of run to be had and the rough is cut short if the extra run does take you off the first cut. Some of the holes were set up as long as they could go and then a bit in some cases. Not strictly within the guidelines which suggest that you should be able to take your two club-lengths and still be on the formed tee area but given that most people would like to crib a bit in the other direction does it really matter. Except of course when it is so far back that you have a sloping lie from the back of the tee. Though the situation has been improved in recent times, there are still one or two tees that appear to have some sort of large animal buried beneath them. On one such, Blighty took three goes to find a spot that was just so. When questioned, he replied that he didn’t like his feet to be below the ball to which Mehm retorted – if it’s on a tee they’re always below the ball – good one Mehm!
Anyway, enough of the fluffy stuff, down to the business of the day. Harry and Blighty were in the same group and on nearly identical handicap and went toe to toe and blow for blow for most of the first nine with Blighty having the best of it after a bit of a hiccup by Harry on the 9th. The back nine was not looking so flash for Andrew until the 16th when he rattled one in for a birdie and 5 (yes five) points. H went close to emulating the five points on the 17th when his pitch into the green rimmed the cup and finished 75mm from the hole. The easiest of birdies (but only 4 points) and it was just one of 13 carded today.
Andrew had to satisfy himself with second place, a spot that he shared with Brendon and Pepsi. Pepsi managed to put his drive on the 17th about a metre from the hole and seemed to be almost a sure thing the collect the Eagles Nest but he too was foiled, in his case by the short stick, and settled for a birdie. Brendon was also striking the ball well, particularly from the tee and could easily have been on top if he hadn’t taken the whole front nine to warm up.
Mehmet and Noodles continue their Battle of the Giants and today’s event looked like being a close run thing with the match being all square at the 17th. Come the 18th green, it looked as if Noodles would at last break the jinx of Habib Corner (by the 16th tee) after Mehm was a little generous with his first putt. Maybe it was the jinx or maybe it was nerves but the winning putt went begging as did the one to put pressure on Mehm for the tie. That left Mehm to claim 3rd spot on his own, as well as the grudge match.
As a consolation, Noodles had to share the podium with a bevy of beauties in the persons of Stefan, Gordo and Eddie. Gordo and Eddie went out to dinner last night and it was a noisy little Pizzeria. Which leads one to think that Ed might have lost his voice as a result of conversing under those conditions as things were remarkably quiet out on the course today. And finally, we come to the last podium spot for the day that was capably filled by a couple of veterans, Keith and Laurie. Keith’s life flashed before his eyes on the 18th tee when a ball from the 17th struck his bag and cart which probably saved him from a direct hit himself. While it’s nice to go for the green if you can hit it that far, please do have a mind for your accuracy as well so as to avoid putting your mates at risk. Laurie didn’t get a mention at the presentations as he sold himself a point short on his card.
The Nearest the Pin for a ball was on the 4th and the only person to give it any sort of a shake was Pepsi and he was in the second last group so all the birdies must have been on other holes (more or less). Mehm’s baby will be able to eat again this week after he put it just over a metre away pin high on the 15th to lay sole claim to the ProPin. This for the second week in a row.
On the birthday front, the Birthday Birdie whispers that that venerable oldie, Rodger, is lining up the candles this week and he will be joined, though with not quite as many, by David. Happy Birthday guys. And in other birthday news, SOS is now a very proud dad to a little girl. Mother and baby are doing well, not so sure about dad though.
With only four more competition weeks left in the year there is a lot of speculation about. Can anyone topple Ed from the top of the table? It is by no means impossible and there are five left who can do it mathematically, if not physically. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. The Seniors Championship is basically a three horse race and any of those three could end up victorious. The useful birdies keep flowing for the Eclectic and there is still opportunity for any one of several to lead the field home in this as well.
The end of the year is almost upon us, so another call for anybody with perpetual trophies on their mantelpiece to get them to Gordo or other Committee member at the first opportunity. Nominations for next year’s Committee are required week after next (8th November). If you don’t like the way the Club is being run, nominate. Also, don’t forget that there will be the Stroke Play Championships played over the three weeks from and including the December Monthly Medal. If it isn’t on your calendar, put it there.
Also note that, as the Course management have changed their order of play (probably by accident), our calendar for the rest of the year has changed slightly in terms of Par and Stableford events. Medals and majors are unchanged.
Results for Saturday, 25 October 2014
1st Harry Boughen(38) 2nd Andrew Blight(36) 2nd Brendon Mitchell(36) 2nd Andrew Petricola(36) 3rd Mehmet Akdag(35) 4th Stefan Belevski(34) 4th Stephen Butterfield(34) 4th Gordon Hill(34) 4th Ed Kloprogge(34) 5th Keith Delzoppo(33) 5th Laurie Mannix(33)